


of plants and preconceptions

by noisyviolets



Series: Seaside Succulents [2]
Category: My Engineer (TV), ด้ายแดงซีรีส์ | Until We Meet Again The Series (TV)
Genre: Judgement?, Kinda, M/M, Miscommunication, also kinda?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-08
Updated: 2020-12-08
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:28:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27956915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noisyviolets/pseuds/noisyviolets
Summary: During one summer’s lunchtime, Team learns an important lesson about not judging a book by its cover.Ram just wants to buy a plant.BL Crossover Week - Day 3: Language
Relationships: King/Ram (My Engineer), Team Teerayu Siriyothin/Win Phawin Wanichakarnjonkul
Series: Seaside Succulents [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2047466
Comments: 19
Kudos: 140
Collections: BL Crossover Week 2020





	of plants and preconceptions

**Author's Note:**

> This is technically in my 'Seaside Succulents' Universe, the first part of which is only WinTeam, but I'm fairly sure this can be read as a standalone. If not, all you need to know is: the UWMA characters live/work in Phuket, Win owns a succulent store next to the office Team works in, and they are dating. RamKing are RamKing lol.

Dating Win was… fun. That was really the only way Team could describe being with the older man. 

The few months since the fateful Cactus Incident, as it had fondly become to be known, had been nothing but smooth sailing. They saw each other regularly, with lunchtimes often spent in Win’s store and a couple of evenings a week spent walking along the seafront or catching the latest movie. Weekends soon became spent at one another’s apartments, both curled up on the couch as they watched trashy reality TV and ordered questionably healthy takeout. Team was happier than he had thought he could ever be. That day he took Win’s hand and let himself be dragged for coffee had been a risk, but one that had turned out to be one of the best risks Team had ever taken.

They weren’t nearly ready enough to meet each others’ parents, that was for sure, but Team had met Win’s brothers a few times. The first was an accident, as they ran into one another one Saturday on the beach, but the times after that had been intentional. Win’s brothers were cool, Team thought, and if their easy acceptance of him as Win’s boyfriend was any indication of how his parents would react, then Team found himself less worried than he might have been. 

His own parents knew about Win, of course. Team was relatively useless at keeping his emotions hidden, and even his parents - despite their somewhat rocky relationship - could tell Team was happier recently. They’d taken the news well enough, Team supposed. His parents had never quite outgrown their tendency to treat him like the small, scared boy he had been growing up; a stifling habit that had led to a difficult adolescence. But they were trying, Team knew, and he was doing his best to see things from their side these days. Weirdly enough, Win was probably a huge part of that development. The older man had provided Team with the strength and support he’d never even realised he was lacking, and having it was teaching Team an awful lot about his relationships with other people - his parents included. 

Being with Win was teaching Team a lot of things, he was realising, and it certainly didn’t seem like the learning curve would be ending anytime soon.

~

Ram looked down at his phone as he stood before the succulent store. 

It looked… small. 

Surely this wasn’t the 5* succulent shop that all the reviews were raving about, was it? 

He glanced back down at the review he had open.  _ Seaside Succulents, stationed right next to the Chatpokin’s Coffee main store - you can grab a drink after buying a beautiful plant from one of the two cute guys who work there! _

Sliding his eyes to Chatpokin’s next door, he locked his phone. This was definitely it.

The chimes rang softly above his head as he pushed open the door, and Ram found himself faced with a sight he was becoming more and more familiar with since he’d begun dating King. Plants.  _ Everywhere. _

Letting his eyes roam around the small space, Ram was taken aback by just how abundant the stock was. Most of the plant stores and nurseries King had taken him to so far had clearly favoured the aesthetics of house plants; displaying things in minimalist designs, with just as much focus on the presentation than the actual plants. This store, meanwhile, was almost… riotous. Every available space was full of a seemingly endless variety of plants, ranging from giant floor standing trees to shelves stacked with cute little succulents. The majority of the plants, Ram noticed, seemed to be in plain, nondescript looking pots (‘nursery pots’, his brain supplied), but some of the larger, more impressive blooms had modern looking pots that brought out every gleaming leaf and flower. King would  _ love  _ it, Ram thought.

Stepping further into the store, he notices the two men sat at what he assumes to be the till/wrapping counter. Two sandwiches sat on the surface in front of them, one open and the other untouched, and the blonde man was delicately fiddling with the rings on the other man’s hand. Neither seemed to have noticed Ram’s arrival, despite the chimes on the door. They must be the “ _ two cute guys _ ” the review mentioned, Ram figured. Although, it only looked like the blonde one worked there, judging by the smaller man’s clean-looking suit. Regardless, it definitely didn’t look as if any customer coming in hoping to hit it off with either man was going to be in any luck.

Chuckling lightly to himself, Ram continued to look around, happy to leave the men to their lunch. He busied himself amongst the plants at the nearest display, hoping to see something his boyfriend didn’t already own, when he felt the men notice his presence. 

~

Team startled as he spotted the tall, quiet man mulling over the impressive succulent section of Win’s store. The man had made next to no noise as he entered, and Team wasn’t sure how both he and Win had managed to miss the gentle tinkle of the door chimes when it had opened. 

Pulling his hand from Win’s with a blush, Team spared a glance at Win’s untouched sandwich before moving to stand up. He may not technically be an employee at the store, but he’d lent a hand often enough to feel confident ringing up customers when needed. He figured he could help this customer if it meant Win could start on his own sandwich, instead of sappily playing with Team’s fingers like they hadn’t already been dating for months.

It wasn’t until the customer turned at the noise of Team’s stool against the floor that Team caught a look at his face. Was he… foreign? 

Sitting back into the stool with undue force, Team snatched the sandwich from Win’s hands, ignoring his boyfriend’s noise of confusion as the meal that had been on its way to his mouth was suddenly gone. Holding the sandwich close to his chest, Team sent a pointed look to Win, one that he hoped conveyed every ounce of the ‘ _ please help me I don’t speak English _ ’ that he was feeling. 

Win, for the most part incredibly intelligent and astute, seemed completely unable to read the hidden message in Team’s pleading eyes. He simply raised an eyebrow, reaching forward to take back his sandwich, before once again looking at Team with confusion as the sandwich was pulled farther from his reach. “Team?” He asked, confusion obvious in his tone. 

Team sighed with exasperation as he quickly jerked his head toward the customer. His sigh turned to one of relief when Win glanced over Team’s shoulder, only for his exasperation to return in full force at the confusion still etched on Win’s face. “Hia,” he hissed, trying to convey the severity of the situation, “you go serve him.”

Win shook his head, leaning across the counter and successfully grabbing the sandwich from Team’s hands. “You do it, Team. I wanna eat my lunch.” He punctuated his sentence with a bite of the sandwich, cheeks puffing in a way Team struggled not to find adorable. 

“You need to do it hia, your English is good!” Team whispered, voice raising the more he willed Win to understand.

“Team, you can’t just assume people don’t speak Thai.” Win replied, leaning back in his chair as he took another bite of his sandwich. And yep, Team knew that expression - Win wasn’t going to give in.

“But he doesn’t  _ look  _ Thai.” Team explained, wondering slightly why Win wasn’t getting his point.

Win let out an exasperated huff as he reached up to run one hand through his hair. “Team what does that even  _ mean?” _

Team shrugged. “Just that -”

Win interrupted, his eyes flitting slightly to the customer who seemed conspicuously interested in the plant in his hand. “Team, do I look like I speak English?”

Team paused. “That’s different.”

“How is it different?” 

“Everyone speaks English!”

Win raised a brow, and from the corner of his eye he was sure he could see the customer’s shoulders shake slightly in amusement. “Team, do  _ you  _ speak English?”

“Hiaaa,’ Team dismissed with a wave of his hand, “you know I was bad at school. Anyway this is Thailand, I don’t need to speak English.”

“Exactly - this is Thailand, so you should assume that people speak Thai until proven wrong! Otherwise you’re being judgemental.” 

All of a sudden, the two men startled as the customer interrupted, having approached the counter at some point during their argument. 

“Sorry P’,” the man began in Thai. “I wondered if I could get some help choosing a plant?” Win watched as a mischievous glint danced in his eyes, “or… I can speak in English, if you’d like?” he added, in English, a smirk on his lips and humour in his tone. 

Win burst into laughter as Team’s mouth dropped open. 

“I’m so sorry,” Win responded, also in English, as he jerked his head to signal Team, who had dropped his head into his hands, shoulders radiating embarrassment. “My boyfriend can be spectacularly dumb.”

The customer matched his grin, though didn’t respond, and Win switched to Thai, “what sort of thing are you looking for?”

~

Being half-Thai in a largely homogenous nation, Ram was all too used to the judgement he received due to his fair skin and somewhat Western features. People were quick to judge, no matter where you lived, but it just so happened that Ram’s appearance was often easier to judge than others. 

It had stopped bothering him a long time ago, although he would be lying if he said it hadn’t haunted his early teens. Young kids were mean, and as much as some of them seemed to idolise the foreign actors they would see on TV, they seemed just as prepared to bully a fellow student who didn’t blend in with the crowd. 

He’d soon learned to be quiet, preferring to keep to himself and let only those who proved themselves worthy of his trust into his tightly guarded life. But that was changing these days, thanks to one particularly precocious senior who had refused to let Ram’s silence hinder his relentless pursuit of friendship. And if that friendship had soon turned into something more, well, that was just another way that King had careened into Ram’s life and changed it for the better. 

Nowadays, in possession of far more confidence than his teenage self, Ram found some people’s reactions to his appearance amusing. Was it annoying when people didn’t think he could speak Thai? Undoubtedly. But, it was also kinda funny to see how long he could play along, and just how flustered he could make them with the big reveal. Ram might be quiet, but that didn’t mean he was boring.

Ram had found the interaction between the two men in the store increasingly hilarious. The shorter guy’s exasperation as he tried to convince the blonde guy to serve him, alongside the panicked  _ stop talking oh my god  _ looks that the blonde man began sending his partner (at least, Ram assumed they were together - they were hardly subtle) was probably one of the funniest interactions Ram had seen in a long time. 

But, he’d come into the store to buy a plant after all, and it was high time he made the purchase before hopping on the train back to Bangkok, and back to his boyfriend’s waiting arms.

Interrupting the squabbling couple, Ram smirked slightly at the reaction of the dark-haired man in particular. Jaw almost reaching the floor, he was staring at Ram in a mixture of shock and embarrassment, and Ram almost felt sorry for the guy. He didn’t know either of these men, and yet even he could tell that the shorter one was in for a lecture at some point later on. Ram offered him a small smile, an apology of sorts, he supposed, as he asked the one who looked like he actually worked in the store for help choosing a plant. Knowing that King would appreciate a plant was the easy part - figuring out which one’s he didn’t already have would prove much more challenging.

As it turned out, however, the employee - P’Win, owner of the store and boyfriend of the panicked man, Ram soon learnt - was incredibly knowledgeable. Ram was able to provide basic descriptions of most of King’s plants, alongside a couple of blurry pictures of the pair of them in King’s apartment where the plants were sort of visible in the background. Yet, despite the limited information, Win was still able to provide detailed suggestions and care advice, and Ram found himself walking out of the store half an hour later with two tiny little succulents packaged neatly into a bag. 

Pulling out his phone to check the train times, Ram turned around to snap a quick photo of the storefront as he left, already planning to send it to King in case the two of them ever ended up in Phuket in the future. Picture taken, Ram double checked the quality and smiled as something caught his eye. There, barely visible in the reflection of the sunlight on the glass front, were two figures sat by a shadowed counter. If you squinted, you could just about make out their joined hands, and Ram flicked his eyes up to see the real deal. Hands joined, the two men had returned to their position intheir seats, Win finishing up his sandwich as his boyfriend smiled fondly, Ram already forgotten. 

Bringing up the store’s page once more, Ram clicked the 5* button. 

_ Great store,  _ he wrote, thumb hovering over the submit button. He paused, rethinking his review. Flicking at the screen to switch his keyboard to English, he adds:  _ the dark-haired employee speaks great English.  _

With a subtle grin, he pressed ‘submit’. 

~

Later that evening, as he dished up their takeaway whilst his boyfriend set up a film in the living room, Win smiled down at a new review notification in his email. Team didn’t really check the store’s search results - why would he? - so it was unlikely he’d see the less… truthful portion of the written review. Win laughed a little at the thought of a future Team, flustered by international customers who’d heard that he, of all people, spoke good English. Win figured he’d wait to see what came of that. 

They’d pretty much put that lunchtime’s event out of mind, with Team returning to the office once his lunch break was over and Win becoming busy with an influx of university students. It was the start of the semester, and it seemed that every new student in Phuket needed a plant for their dorm - not that Win begrudged the extra business. Yet, that email had reminded him, and he knew he needed to talk to Team about it. 

Sighing slightly as he brought their plates into the room, he set them down on the coffee table and collapsed onto the sofa beside Team. Turning to his boyfriend, he figured now was as good a time as any. “You know I told you I studied in England for a bit, right?” 

“Yeah, you did a year abroad there, right?” Team replied distractedly, noodles already halfway to his mouth.

Win had always talked about his time abroad fondly, occasionally telling Team of the two semesters he spent there during university. He nodded, but the fondness that Team was used to seeing when Win mentioned England was missing from his expression. “Well, it used to really annoy me when people assumed I didn’t speak English - just because I had an accent, or spoke Thai to someone on the phone or something.” 

“Hia?” Team asked, voice uncertain. It was clear that he knew that he had messed up earlier, when that other man had been in the store, but he obviously wasn’t quite sure  _ how.  _

Win kept his voice neutral as he spoke. “Obviously there’s lots of native English speaking Asians, especially in London where I was, but old people especially would hear my accent or sometimes even just see my face and assume I didn’t speak English. _ At all. _ ” 

“But you’re so smart!” Team cried, already affronted on Win’s behalf, and God if Win didn’t have to try hard to maintain his serious tone in the face of Team’s adorableness. “And you studied so hard!”

“Exactly, Team.” Win intoned, levelling his boyfriend with a pointed look. “And it was annoying to have my hard work ignored just because of my face.” 

Team hummed softly as he mulled over Win’s words. A gentle flush rose to his cheeks as his mind settled upon the point hidden between them.

“That guy...” he trailed off, looking up at Win with wide eyes.

Win nodded. “Sure, it seems like that guy was probably half Thai or grew up here or something - he seemed fluent, right? But, even if he wasn’t, it was rude to assume he didn’t speak it just because he looks mixed.” 

Team nodded, chewing on his lip as he replayed the afternoon’s events. 

Win continued, reaching out to place a hand on Team’s knee, “he could be someone who spent years studying, and you just ignored that. I know you didn’t mean to, but you did.” 

Moving his hands to rest on top of Team’s, Win watched as Team thought carefully about his next words. “I probably made him feel really different, too” he whispered, face stricken. 

Win looked at him with surprise, before his characteristic grin once again split his face. If he were to be honest, he hadn’t been expecting Team to figure that one out himself, but he should have given the other man more credit. His boyfriend was more emotionally astute than most people realised. 

~

Turning the key in the lock, Ram smiled as he heard movement from within the apartment. He shouldered the door open with a grunt, one hand pulling his small suitcase while the other gripped the bag with King’s gift; his smile growing as he spotted his boyfriend walking down the hall to greet him.

Ram ignored the blush that still rushed to his cheeks whenever King would press a small kiss to his cheek in greeting, and instead mumbled a small “thanks” when the other man took Ram’s suitcase from him.

“I wasn’t sure if you would have eaten on the train or something, but I made extra dinner just in case - it's sitting in the microwave if you’re hungry.” King spoke over his shoulder as he took Ram’s case into their bedroom, emerging to hover in the doorway as Ram toed off his shoes. 

Ram walked into the kitchen, quickly checking the contents of the microwave before setting it to reheat his food. Grabbing a couple of beers from the fridge, he joined King in their living room, placing one in front of his boyfriend as he simultaneously held out the small bag with the plants in. King shot him a questioning glance, but took the bag with a smile. Ram almost always brought King some sort of gift when he travelled for work, albeit not always plants, but every time King still acted as if he were genuinely surprised. 

Popping back into the kitchen to grab his now warm dinner, Ram paused in the doorway to watch his boyfriend unwrap the plants. The man in the store had wrapped them carefully, with bright and colourful paper that had protected the delicate succulents as Ram travelled. He loved to watch King open his gifts when he wasn’t completely aware that Ram was watching - there was just something precious about the unfiltered expressions that would grace his boyfriend’s face. King never really hid his emotions from Ram, not since they’d started dating, but opening a gift in front of the person who bought it for you was always a little awkward. Even when that person was the man you loved. 

Ram watched as King smiled down at the two little plants, one hand coming up to gently run a finger across their soft stems. It came as no surprise when King whipped out his phone and snapped a quick photo of each, no doubt saving them to import into the plant tracking app that they both pretended he didn’t have.

“You like them?” Ram asked simply, dropping into the seat beside King on the sofa.

“Of course I do,” King breathed in response, shooting Ram a look of thanks before returning to inspecting the plants. “I’m pretty sure you can barely name 10% of the plants in this apartment, yet you still always manage to get me new ones - you have a strange talent, Cool Boy.” 

Ram laughed. “The store clerk was really knowledgeable,” he admitted. “He was able to turn my  _ ‘well, a lot of them are green?’  _ into actual information.”

King raised a brow, turning his head to regard the taller man. “Found yourself a new plant enthusiast, have you? Should I be jealous?” 

Dinner halfway to his mouth, Ram merely rolled his eyes at his boyfriend’s teasing. “Nah, I think the one I have now is cuter,” he said around a mouthful of food, smiling a little as King blushed despite Ram’s less than romantic delivery. 

After a while, King got up to find homes for his new plants, and Ram quickly finished up his meal before moving the plates to the kitchen. He could wash them up now, he supposed, but he hadn’t seen King in a few days and was more concerned with curling up with the other man in front of a film than anything else.

Halfway through the first movie of the night, the main character’s attempts at a garbled conversation in a foreign language reminded him of the couple in the plant store. He turned to King, pausing the film as he briefly recounted the amusing situation from earlier, pleased when King laughed at the mischievous review he’d chosen to leave. 

Still, he wasn’t entirely surprised at the displeased curl to King’s lips. “He really shouldn’t have assumed though - I would have told him off if I were there.” King said with vindication, nodding his head slightly as if affirming his words to himself.

Ram quirked his lip, always amused by King’s willingness to defend him in any situation. Yet, he couldn’t help but think King was forgetting something about their own first meeting. 

“P’, didn’t you also assume I didn’t speak Thai at first?”

King let out a gasp of outrage, leaning forward into Ram’s space as he held one finger up accusingly. “In my defense, Cool Boy, you literally didn’t speak. At all. How was I supposed to know that was just,” King waved his hands at Ram in a vague gesture, “your  _ thing _ .”

Ram laughed at that, a full, loud noise, and King sniffed and turned his nose up in response. “Don’t worry, P’.” he said, leaning over and lacing his fingers through his boyfriend's own. “I’ll always speak to you.”

Regarding his boyfriend with mock-suspicion, King held Ram’s gaze for a few seconds before squeezing his hand in response. Rolling his eyes, he leant in and pressed a quick kiss to Ram’s mouth, before grabbing the remote and restarting the film.

“I’ll hold you to that, Cool Boy.”

~fin~

**Author's Note:**

> This idea burst into my brain the moment I saw the prompt list for BLC Week and absolutely refused to leave. "I have my Christmas series to write!" I said. "And you have had weeks to plan better." It replied. And you know what, it's right. Whoops. 
> 
> So yeah, no Christmas fic this week (I have so many deadlines this month hah ah aha kmn), but you do get whatever this is! 
> 
> Also, this was called "Cactus AU 2: RamKing Boogaloo" in my docs the entire time I was writing it, so be somewhat glad that wasn't the name I ended up going with ajskdjksafkj.
> 
> Anyway!~~ Do let me know in the comments if you liked this lil AU of an AU!! It was quite fun to write :')
> 
> twitter: @noisyviolets


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